More than $20,000 in scrap metal was stolen, police say. A man and woman now face charges.

A 33-year-old Cary man is charged with stealing more than $20,000 worth of copper and other scrap metal, then collecting cash in exchange for it.

Raleigh police accused Matthew Casey Laudate of Doylin Drive of taking an ATT junction box, a copper water line, two backflow valves, a copper refrigerant line, coaxial cables, a furnace and other items, according to arrest warrants.

A 33-year-old woman of the same address, Laura Ann Thornton, is charged with conspiracy, possession of stolen goods and obtaining property by false pretenses in the case of one of the backflow preventers, for which she and Laudate received $550 from a metal recycler, warrants said.

Police said the items were stolen from a variety of addresses around Raleigh, including Trinity Properties, Rhyne Management and a dentist’s office on Western Boulevard.